Anyone out there homeschool dc?

[KpbS]

"Real" school is a couple years off for us but I am weighing our choices now as we are anticipating a move. I have several different options on the table and I'd like to start visiting and ranking them. I am curious, if you homeschool your dc which factors influenced your decision? Do you ever feel like you are "wearing too many hats", eg. mom, teacher, etc.?

TIA

[Nooknookmom]

I can't wait to hear some input to your q myself. DD1 (13) went to private preschool & has attended public school k-8. I do not like middle school, but that said, DD1 is a very detailed oriented kid and really needs a structured school environment. I don't think hsing would have worked for her.

DD2 is a different animal, personality wise, and I am *discussing with myself* if hsing is an option for her. She's only 16 mo now and I'll know much more about her personality and what learning environment is best for her in a couple years. I do want to educate myself now though so I have weighed all the options when it is time.

DH & MIL both think hsing deprives kids of *school experiences* and are not for it. We'll see, if I am still able to WAH/SAH, I may be able to convice DH otherwise. I do wonder if *I* am capable of providing her w/ a complete education and not "miss" anything KWIM? I already have a lot on my plate w/ a business DH & I run from home and DD2 is VERY high needs.

I hope you are able to find out some good info here :)

[egoldber]

No, but I would like to. DH does not agree, so right now I work to make sure that school works as well as possible for Sarah.

My issues with school are many faceted. :) A big part of it is that Sarah is an odd mix being advanced academically and socially immature. She is entering second grade but can do work at a much higher level, but she is not a good candidate for grade skipping because of her immaturity. So she is bored a lot at school which makes her act out.

I also just really, really hate the school day rhythm. I hate that our mornings are rushed and that our afternoons and evenings are spent with homework and after school events with very little time leftover for family. Summer was so pleasant. And the homework is only going to get worse as she gets older. This year, in second grade, they have an agenda to help them keep track of their homework.

I hate that NCLB means that schools teach to the test vs working to meet children's needs.

I could go on, but that's probably enough.....

[AuGoldie]

I'd love to read all answers to this post as my first born is on the way and my dream is to homeschool our children. I am a trained teacher so I think I could handle the academics of it quite well but I am nervous about being way too involved in the childrens lives and creating co-dependant children. My husband worries that the children will not be properly socialized.
Jackie

[AngelaS]

We just started our sixth year of homeschooling. My girls are in 5th and 1st grades. I love homeschooling and can't imagine any other type of schooling for them.

We chose homeschooling initially because we were in the elementary district with the lowest test scores of the city. I wanted to give A a good start by teaching her to read and love reading and by the time we met that goal--homeschooling had just become our lifestyle and changing it now seems odd.

I love homeschooling because my girls get lots of one on one attention. My oldest wasn't an eager reader, and since I was just teaching her, we spent ALL our time those early years reading horse books. That drew her in and now she'll read lots of books but reading only horse books initially got her hooked.

My A is good at math and is almost ready to start 7th grade math. She's been working thru more than 1 level a year and now she's finally being challenged. I love seeing her plug away tho and love the lightbulbs when it finally clicks.

Yesterday she came and asked me if she could write a three page paper on tigers. Um...sure. LOL :D

I'm so not worried about the socialization thing. My girls are involved in church activities, a couple homeschool groups, they play with neighbor kids, they play with cousins and they're not afraid to talk to grownups or new kids. I love that they don't limit themselves because "she's not in my grade": some of their best friends are a year or two older or younger. They are free to play with kids of all ages and aren't locked into the mindset of their 'grade'.

They also have plenty of opportunities to be away from me and learn from others--church, enrichment, sports, yada yada. Unless you live 40 miles from civilization and your kids never go out, I think you really can't help but socialize them. I know this is the argument SO many people think of when it comes to homeschooling but I really don't worry about it. They get along well with their peers and with anyone else and isn't that what life's about?

[brittone2]

We aren't officially HSers, as DS wouldn't be in K yet if he went to public school. However, we haven't done preschool at all so far, so in that way, we're homeschoolers I guess ;)

For me, there are many, many reasons why I want to HS.

My primary reasons are being able to go at a child's own pace, to have the chance to dive into interests intensely as they arise, to spend more time on the arts than public school currently allows, to allow for a child to have asynchronous learning (so a child that excels at math can be on a level more challenging than "grade level" but may need to go at a slower pace for something like reading), and to be able to teach a child in the learning style that fits best for that child (some kids respond better to manipulative-based math vs. a workbook for example). I like that we can go down to the stream to collect samples of pond water and spend time observing nature rather than reading about ecosystems in a textbook.

I like the flexibility it allows for parent and child.

I despise NCLB. I have a close friend who is a science teacher. Several years ago she did a lot of essay tests, etc. with her middle school students. She felt it was important that students not only know the information, but can communicate it well. She thought it was important to integrate writing into courses other than language arts class. The administration told her she needs to skip the essays and focus primarily on multiple-choice testing so that her testing preps kids for standardized testing.

I want my children to be able to know how to answer their own questions, pull together resources, analyze those resources, and be able to write/communicate the results well. I personally think that is missing in many schools today. I want them to be intellectually curious more than I want them filled up with facts. (since I've found I don't recall many of the facts taught in school that I haven't been passionately interested in personally, or that I haven't needed to use on a regular basis).

As they get older I'd like them to have more time to pursue mentorships with adult professionals, to volunteer, and to spend time involved in the community and really get a feel for what career paths there are. I think possibly taking some community college classes, etc. as a teen still at home makes for a nice transition into what universities require.

There are as many ways to homeschool as there are homeschoolers. I personally don't have any desire to replicate "school at home" with my kids. I'm much more into feeding their interests, following those interests onto other topics, etc. than I am sitting in front of a chalkboard with DC at desks with me. Many homeschoolers initially start w/ a "school at home" type of style and eventually move toward a more eclectic or child-led approach. The amount of structure desired really depends on the child/family.

If you are looking for resources/websites/individual state legal info, feel free to PM any time.

[brittone2]

I'm so not worried about the socialization thing. My girls are involved in church activities, a couple homeschool groups, they play with neighbor kids, they play with cousins and they're not afraid to talk to grownups or new kids. I love that they don't limit themselves because "she's not in my grade": some of their best friends are a year or two older or younger. They are free to play with kids of all ages and aren't locked into the mindset of their 'grade'.

They also have plenty of opportunities to be away from me and learn from others--church, enrichment, sports, yada yada. Unless you live 40 miles from civilization and your kids never go out, I think you really can't help but socialize them. I know this is the argument SO many people think of when it comes to homeschooling but I really don't worry about it. They get along well with their peers and with anyone else and isn't that what life's about?

:yeahthat:

DS plays with kids ranging from 2-14 in our neighborhood, all on a regular basis. We have two neighbors his age, and then a wide range of ages up to the preteens/teens. There are groups of homeschoolers that don't want to be social with others outside of their religion, etc. but that's a choice. Most homeschoolers today have abundant opportunities to interact w/ other kids on sports teams, through music or horseback riding lessons, homeschool support groups that do weekly park meet up days, etc. Unless you purposefully *try* to shelter your child from others, I think the socialization worries are kind of ridiculous. With the way school today is scheduled (less time in recess, shorter lunch periods, etc.) there isn't always that much true social time anyway.

As they get older, I think there are so many ways to transition a child into the community that are IMO more natural than sitting in high school one year and being off on their own in college the next. There are opportunities to shadow a professional, enter a mentorship/apprentice type of relationship, to get involved w/ volunteer work, to take community college courses, to hang out at the local coffee shop where all of the writers and artists spend time in my community. (and yes, a child in public school can do those things as well, but a homeschooled child has more time available to expore those interests and opportunities). In many ways I think supporting a child to make those connections, and for the child to experience first hand different career paths, etc. is a much more gentle and natural transition into the independence of adulthood than many traditional schools supply.

[MommyAllison]

We are planning on homeschooling, and are actually doing preschool homeschooling loosely this year. For us, we had many reasons that we are choosing to homeschool. DH and I both went to school in the same district and attended the same high school, which is supposed to be the best in our city (and we still live in that district), but we both feel that there were a lot of gaps in our education. For example, I never learned anything about WW1, the Vietnam war, European history, African history, Australian history, Asian history...and I took almost every honors/AP class that was offered. I still want to learn about those things, and I want my kids to have a more complete education than I had. I know that a classroom full of students can't possibly get to every historical event, but I think our family can go through a ton of history because we can go faster, and learn in lots of different ways besides just reading a textbook. I was one of the very youngest in my class, and I was still very bored a lot of the time because I was wanting to move on and wasn't able to until the rest of the class was ready to move on. We also have concerns about the curriculum that is being taught in public schools, and we don't want to send our kids for private schools for other reasons. After reading Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker, I am thankful not to worry about my kids being safe at school. For us, homeschooling is very attractive and we are really excited to start - though I know there will be hard days, I can't wait to learn along with my kids.

And FTR, I don't have anything against teachers, or public school, or anything like that. My sister is a high school teacher, and I am so very glad there are so many awesome teachers out there. There are several in my school career that truly made such a difference in my life and I will never forget them. But for our family, homeschooling seems at this point to be our best option.